Leni Ward - Hope

Heartbreak. Perhaps the strongest influence a songwriter can have bestowed upon them. I’m quite sure Leni Ward would agree. Last year, the songstress had to face the break down of a seven year relationship. However, Ward rejected the opportunity to use her music as a means or mourning. Instead, the Derby multi-instrumentalist strode into the studio with renewed vigour, armed with an aim to conjure an album which was surprisingly positive, a celebration of life, or as Leni puts it, she decided to ‘chose dancing over depression’.

Leni’s whimsical music has already garnered interest from DJs ala Steve Lamaq and Dermot O’Leary, while her name is being praised by all sorts of printed publications. Alas, as our Florence’s and Marina’s march their way back to their recording studio burrows, one wonders if Leni and her new album, ‘Hope’, are here to feed those hungry for more quirky queens.

Opener, ‘One Last Time With You’, sets the standard of what is to come, as zig zag synths thunder away in the distance while Leni’s endearing pines of ‘I just wanna dance one last time with you!’ swim around the chorus. ‘I Want My Heart Back’ - an undoubted sound smash in the making - bounces with La Roux beats and deep-set drum machines, but rather pleasingly lacks the glassy edge of Elly Jackson,. Meanwhile, ‘The Future’ is Ellie Goulding’s hit ‘Starry Eyed’, just coated in a layer of glitter.

‘Opening Door’, the fairy-like freedom anthem sounds a little juvenile, and somewhat along Owl City standards, as Leni sings ‘And now that I’m free, I’m going out dancing!’ to Fireflies’ stylee beats. Still, Ward is noticeably successful at getting away with this musical cotton candy.

However, don’t be fooled, for Leni’s music isn’t too squeaky clean. ‘The Watcher’s’ crunchy, vibrating underlay is ominous and sinister as Ward cries “Everywhere I go, I see your face in front of me. Never thought that you would be the enemy!”, while the bewitching acapella of ‘I Will Rise’ not only hones in on Leni’s captivating voice, but the lack of instrumentation hands it an incredibly eerie soundscape.

Leni’s greatest downfall, however, is her lack of variety. The majority of tracks on ‘Hope’ follow a similar audio concept – tinkling synths gradually introducing wisps of vocals washing over the electronics like a gentle wave. Alas, tracks such as ‘Cassandra’ and ‘The Beat Inside’ often fall into an indistinguishable, and frankly forgettable electro mass.

In a way, the album is very similar to that of a box of Quality Street - the catch being it only contains one form of sweet. Hey, that particular sweet might even be your favourite of the whole lot, but a complete box of them can get pretty sickening after a while. Consumed as one offs, however, and the chocolatey satisfaction remains. Still, enough of these sugary metaphors. What I’m trying to say is this : in singular, 3 minute shots, Leni’s dance beats and love-tainted vocals are genuinely brilliant – Radio One will be knocking on her door in a matter of weeks. However, a whole album of Ward’s music becomes somewhat repetitive and tiresome and ‘Hope’ could have done with engaging eclecticism a little more.